24 railway rolling stock for Bangkok Skytrain dealt

BTS Group which runs the Skystrain in Bangkok has signed a contract on 23 May to buy 24 trains from CRRC Changchun railway vehicles and another 22 trains from Siemens AG.

These 46 four-car trains from both the Chinese producer of mass transit vehicles and German-based train maker will be used for Bangkok's green lines and their extension.

"With these new railway rolling stock, we will be able to operate the Skytrain comfortably for the next 10 years," said Keeree Kanjanapas, chairman of the BTS Group Holding Plc.

The total 46 new railway vehicle worth 11 billion baht ($308 million), said Keeree, adding that the 11 billion baht would come from the company's cash flow and loans, Bangkok Post reported.

BTS Group operates 52 four-car trains on its two green lines, namely Sukhumvit Line and Silom Line. 17 trains among them are supplied by the Chinese company CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles while the rest are from Siemens AG.

Bangkok has a rapid transit rail network of four lines until now and is building more lines to alleviate its traffic congestion.

The fifth line, the purple line it set to officially open on Aug 6.

Keeree also mentioned that BTS Group's subsidiary Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc, which signed the contract this time, plans to join all the bids for government mass transit projects including the upcoming pink and orange lines, in the form of public-private partnership.